The present invention relates to elongate load-carrying frames which, after being loaded with two or more tiers of vehicles or other loads required to be kept physically isolated from one another, are adapted for insertion into a standard cargo-carrying container or other type of enclosure for shipment. The invention further relates, in particular, to an adjustment mechanism for such frames which permits maximum utilization of the space inside each transport enclosure.
Vehicle-carrying frames that have a generally open-sided, box-like construction facilitating vehicle loading are shown in Gearin et al., U.S. Pat. Nos. 4,768,916, 4,797,049 and 5,105,951. Each of these frames has a pair of transversely spaced sides where each side includes longitudinally extending upper and lower rails rigidly held apart by longitudinally-spaced upright brace members. At their respective rearward ends, the sides are selectively held apart transversely by a detachable rigid spreader bar, while at their respective forward ends, as shown in U.S. Pat. Nos. 4,768,916 and 5,105,951, the sides are permanently connected to each other by a centrally hinged gate that selectively locks to hold the sides apart or unlocks and folds inwardly of the frame in order to collapse the sides together. This enables a number of frames to be compactly loaded in side-by-side relationship to each other for return shipment in a single cargo-carrying container.
To carry an upper and lower tier of vehicles on each of these types of frames, a vehicle-supporting assembly is used. This assembly divides the frame into discrete vehicle-loading zones, where each zone is configured to support a respective vehicle and includes forward and rearward transversely extending wheel cradles for carrying the forward and rearward wheels, respectively, of the vehicle. Each end of each wheel cradle is supported by a cradle hanger which, in turn, is vertically slidable and selectively lockable along a tension member suspended by its upper end from the upper rail of a respective side. The vertical slideability of the cradle hangers facilitates power-assisted vertical lifting of each vehicle by the hangers.
The upper ends of the respective tension members are longitudinally shiftable along the upper rails. This not only facilitates tilting of the vehicles but also permits adjustments to be made in the length and longitudinal position of each vehicle loading zone relative to the frame so that vehicles of different wheelbase can be accommodated. The freedom of movement afforded to the tension members is such that the maximum limits on the length of each vehicle loading zone, rather than being absolute, are interrelated to each other. Hence it is possible to accommodate a vehicle of almost any length and, more often than not, to make optimal utilization of the lengthwise capacity of the frame by supplying adjacent zones with vehicles that are of a complementary length. An elongate plate having numerous openings or slots spaced therealong is affixed to each upper rail to provide a plurality of pinning or locking positions for each tension member.
Frames of the type just described, despite their general versatility, are limited in the sense that they do not fully utilize the capacity of the variously-sized containers in which such frames are transported. In particular, such containers are typically 40 feet, 45 feet or 48 feet in length and 96 inches (for the 40 and 45-foot containers) or 102 inches (for the 48-foot container) in transverse width. The described type of frame, being of fixed dimension, is limited to having a length and width no larger than that which will fit within the smallest (i.e., shortest and narrowest) container. When loading a frame that is 39 feet in length (suitable for a 40-foot container), however, it is normally possible to load only three larger-length vehicles (one in the top tier and two in the bottom). If, instead, the frame were able to be 47 feet in length (suitable for a 48-foot container) it might be possible to load as many as six larger-length vehicles on the frame (three in each tier). Similarly, when loading a frame that it only about 90 inches in width (suitable for a 96-inch-wide container), if a wider-width vehicle (such as a pickup truck) is being loaded, often there are side mirrors or like items on the vehicle that scarcely clear the inner surfaces on the frame's sides This considerably slows dawn the loading process because of the extra caution that is required. If, instead, the frame were able to be about 96 inches in width (suitable for a 102-inch container), then it would be possible to load vehicles with less caution and hence more quickly and also to more fully match the frame's width to that of wider-width enclosures for less frame movement inside such enclosures during transport.
A type of vehicle-carrying transport in which tiltable vehicle supports are used in order to accommodate longer-Length vehicles is shown in Swartzwelder, U.K. Patent No. 1,006,496. The gain in vehicle length obtainable solely by the use of tiltable supports, however, is limited and comes at the expense of an increase in the combined height of the frame and vehicles. Furthermore, several classes of vehicles, such as limousines, have a larger wheelbase than the Swartzwelder type of transport can generally accommodate. This is so because the individual length of each vehicle support is fixed and such length must generally correspond, for economic reasons, to the average vehicle length in order that each transport may efficiently carry the maximum number of standard-length vehicles.
A more versatile type of adjustable vehicle carrying structure is described in Gearin, U.S. patent application Ser. No. 07/871,288, filed Apr. 20, 1992. Like its fixed-length predecessors, this length-adjustable frame provides vehicle-loading zones that not only tilt but also adjust in relative length and position so that vehicles of nearly any length may be carried on the frame. Moreover, unlike its predecessors the length of this frame can be adjusted to correspond to the various lengths of container in which the frame may be transported, and the space on the frame which is made available by such adjustment can often be fully allocated between the respective vehicle-loading zones.
Despite its many attractive features however, this particular type of length-adjustable frame does not entirely resolve the problem of maximum utilization of container space. The fixed width of this frame, for example, is Limited to that needed to fit inside the narrowest container so that problems of inefficiency when loading wider-width vehicles and of unutilized space when loading wider-width containers still remain. Moreover, the particular adjustment mechanism of this frame includes a pair of upright I-shaped inserts that each centrally occupy a respective side of the frame in interposed relationship between the respective end sections on each side. The horizontal members of each I-shaped insert serve as guides over which the upper and lower rails of each end section telescopically slide for length adjustment of the frame. This telescoping-type action involves nearly four feet of overlapping section per end, however, making the respective sections susceptible to sticking or jamming. In addition, the sizes of the lower rails must be increased so that they will provide adequate bearing surfaces for the extra loading involved. This, in turn, increases overall weight and, indeed, may add almost 1,000 pounds to the weight of each frame. At this level of weight, no more than two or three collapsed frames can be loaded into a single container for return shipment before recommended weight limits are reached, which again results in unutilized container space. Finally, adjusting the end sections to enable such sections to be interlocked with the I-shaped insert requires a considerable amount of tedious back-and-forth movement of the end sections in order for certain pin-receiving holes located on the end sections to reach proper alignment with other pin-receiving holes that are located on the insert. This tendency toward overshoot and undershoot in the locking procedure makes automation of the procedure expensive and impractical, so that the benefits in speed and labor savings which typically would result from automation cannot be realized. In instances of extreme operator carelessness, moreover, the end sections could actually pull apart from the insert and present a falling hazard.
With respect to width-adjustability, Nordstrom U.S. Pat. No. 4,124,119 shows a floor-mounted vehicle-carrying frame having upper and lower wheel-supporting rails and tiltable sides where the angle of tilt is set based on the difference in width between the upper and lower groups of vehicles that are to be carried on the frame. Before they are locked into place at a selected tilt, however, the sides are not self-supporting and therefore present a falling hazard unless they are held in place such as by an external clamping assembly. Moreover, within each upper or lower group, the vehicles are restricted to being of uniform width. Perhaps even more significant, the Nordstrom frame is assembled in order to fit the width requirements of particular vehicles so that each time a hew group of vehicles is to be carried on the frame, unless the width of this new group substantially matches the width of the old group partial reassembly of the Nordstrom frame is required. This general strategy of sizing a frame or other vehicle-carrying structure to uniquely fit the sizes of specific vehicles is not unique to Nordstrom but also appears in older references such as Evans U.S. Pat. No. 1,869,054, which shows a wall-mounted pair of "spider-leg" supports where the head of each spider can be adjustably set at different distances from the wall depending on the width of the specific vehicle to be carried by the supports.
From the standpoint of accommodating variance in vehicle width, a more versatile type of system is shown in Fity et al. U.S. Pat. No. 4,668,142 and in the previously cited copending Gearin application. In each of these references an elongate wheel cradle support is described which extends transversely between the sides of the vehicle-carrying structure and which supports a transverse pair of wheels of a vehicle when the transverse wheel spacing ranges between predetermined outer and inner width dimensions that characterize the wheel cradle support. Unlike the Nordstrom-type and Evans-type systems, the Fity and Gearin structures may be reloaded with new vehicles without close attention paid to the precise width of each new vehicle or how that width compares to those of earlier-carried vehicles. Neither the Fity system nor the Gearin system, however, provides the capability to expand the width range of each wheel cradle support beyond its original limits, nor satisfies the competing needs for longer-length wheel cradles to support wider-width vehicles and shorter-length wheel cradles to fit within narrower-width containers.
Accordingly, an object of the present invention is to provide a load-carrying frame for supporting physically isolated loads, such as vehicles, that has an adjustment mechanism which will enable the frame to fit snugly in different transport enclosures having different internal dimensions and which, at the same time, will permit maximum utilization of the space inside each transport enclosure.
A related object of the present invention is to provide an adjustment mechanism of the above type that is relatively lightweight in relation to the total weight of the frame, thereby permitting a maximum number of such frames, each one collapsed for return shipment, to be transported Safely in a transport enclosure.
A further object of the present invention is to provide an adjustment mechanism of the above type which prevents inadvertent detachment of the adjustable frame sections during the adjustment procedure.
A further object of the present invention is to provide an adjustment mechanism for expanding or contracting the length of a vehicle-carrying frame that is unlikely to jam during normal use.
Another object of the present invention is to provide an adjustment mechanism for expanding or contracting the length of a vehicle-carrying frame that will conveniently lock into place at different dimensional settings without overshoot or undershoot.
A related object of the present invention is to provide an adjustment mechanism of the above type that can be operated by power-driven equipment.
Yet another object of the present invention is to provide an adjustment mechanism that enables adjustment of the frame's width for improved efficiency during vehicle loading and for fuller utilization of the enclosure's internal space.